Rainbow Families DC 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
 
Thank you to everyone who sponsored, attended or volunteered. You made this event an outstanding success!

sponsors:

The Rainbow Families DC 2010 biannual conference was held on Saturday, April 24, 2010, at Georgetown Day School’s high school campus (4200 Davenport Street, NW, DC). Since our last conference in 2008, Rainbow Families DC has focused on growing our membership, expanding our programs for prospective parents, and establishing an exciting schedule of family-friendly events including our winter dance, Cox Farms fall festival, and an outing to Adventure Theater. Thanks to the hard work of our Board of Directors, our key conference volunteers, and the generosity of our sponsors, we offered you the best and biggest RFDC conference ever!

Take a look at the full, detailed schedule of workshops.

Below is an overview of the conference program:

Our conference program kicked off with the opening session, "Grandparent’s Stories—the 2nd Coming Out," featuring a diverse panel of our parents—our children’s grandparents—sharing their own personal, heartfelt stories about their journey to accepting and embracing their own LGBT child, and on becoming part of their grandchildren’s family. This panel of grandparents reflected on a range of experiences and helped us all develop a deeper understanding of the unique experience our parents have as they "learn" how to be part of our families, to "come out" about our families with their friends, colleagues and extended family, and to honor and support us as parents. 

Watch a video from the conference by the DC Agenda (now the Washington Balde).

A wide range of workshops and discussion forums were offered throughout the day, organized into four primary topic tracks:

• Paths To Parenthood: Options and issues for LGBT prospective parents;
• Supporting Our Families: A selection of current topics of interest to our diverse community of LGBT families;
• Educating Our Children: LGBT Families and our Schools;
• Key Legal and Financial Planning for LGBT Families;

During the afternoon, we featured the DC premier of "Preacher’s Sons ," a 90-minute documentary about two dads who adopt five boys from foster care. We were joined by the filmmaker, C. Roebuck Reid, who introduced the film and offered a Q and A after the show.

We offered structured activities for children 2.5 and older throughout the day. Our Kid’s Camp met the needs of children 2.5 to 8, and COLAGE programming supported children/youth 9 and older. Parents of children 9 or 10 who prefer that they are in Kid’s Camp rather than COLAGE had that option. Children under 2.5 could be with their parents in workshops and we had a "quiet room" where parents could hang out with their kids.

COLAGE was thrilled to partner with RFDC to provide a day of exciting programming for youth ages 9 and up who have one or more LGBTQ parent.

COLAGE is the only national youth-driven network that connects people with an LGBTQ parent to a community of peers. Living in a world that treats our families differently can be isolating or challenging. By connecting with others who share our experience, COLAGE helps us appreciate/see that our difference is our strength. With this realization, we become leaders and advocates who make change that matters.

Youth participating in COLAGE programming at the RFDC conference had an opportunity to meet other COLAGErs (youth with LGBTQ parents) and work with a team of adult facilitators who also identify as COLAGEr!

Youth participated in a group for youth age 9-12 or for teens ages 13 and up. Participants started the day with games and fun to meet other youth with LGBTQ parents, share their story and celebrate their community. Then, before heading to lunch, they had a chance to talk about where we spend most of our days: school! The tough, the challenging and the fun stuff too. Youth also learned more about opportunities for sharing our stories in ways that can help make change, such as digital storytelling and creative writing. After lunch it was time for more games as youth selected from several different options such as art, drama, and leadership training.

CLOSING PROGRAM:

At the end of the day, we all gathered together. Our children and youth performed music, showed us their artwork, shared their poetry, and we celebrated with sweet treats and announcements about upcoming Rainbow Families DC events, and other news for our community.